The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
In order to conserve floor space in a room it is known to provide a foldout bed that can be folded up when not in use. Such beds are sometimes designed to resemble furniture such as a cabinet, armoire, sofa, or shelf, adding to the esthetic appearance of the room. U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,932 to Voorhis, for example, teaches a wall-mounted foldable bed cabinet that can be folded up against a wall when not in use. While advantageous in some aspects, this approach has certain disadvantages. In particular, mounting the bed cabinet to a wall takes time, can cause damage to the building structure, and prevents the cabinet from being mobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 218,678 to Koskul teaches a foldout bed that resembles a stand-alone cabinet when in the folded configuration. The Koskul design advantageously avoids the need to mount the bed to a wall by allowing each face of the cabinet to fold open. However, numerous problems remain in the art of such “dual-opening” foldout cabinet beds. First, the mattress in Kodkul's bed is made in two unconnected parts, which can be uncomfortable to sleep on due to the seam between the two unconnected mattress parts. Second, the mechanism for unfolding the bed and supporting the mattress is complex, which adds unnecessary weight to the cabinet and introduces unnecessary points of failure. Third, the mechanism can also be difficult to manufacture, assemble, and install.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,139 to Arason teaches a dual-opening foldout cabinet bed having wheels. However, numerous disadvantages are associated with this design. First, the center of gravity is too high in the folded up configuration, making the cabinet very instable, especially when pushed or moved. Second, the cabinet is too close to the ground when in the open configuration, making access to the bed difficult and undesirable for sitting and sleeping. Third, the design has many sharp edges, making the cabinet unsafe. Fourth, opening the cabinet requires much caution since the sides can fall down by themselves. Fifth, when the cabinet is in the open configuration, the mattress is not fully enclosed and can slide off of the cabinet. Sixth, an innerspring mattress is too rigid to be stored in the folded configuration within the cabinet. Finally, the foam (futon) mattress used in the cabinet bunches up when it is stored, creating dents, creases, and an irregular and uncomfortable sleeping surface. In sum, various drawbacks remain in the art of foldout cabinet beds.
U.S. Pat. No. 83,936 to Crosby teaches a dual-opening foldout cabinet bed. However, Crosby does not provide a solution to storing a mattress inside the space of the closed cabinet in a manner that allows for the cabinet to transition from a folded configuration to an open configuration. Furthermore, Crosby also fails to provide a foldout cabinet bed that allows the user to comfortably sit on the edge of the bed without the rails pinching into the underside of the legs.
Other examples of foldout beds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,768 to Danin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,601 to Kohl, U.S. Pat. No. 192,621 to Williamson, U.S. Pat. No. 201,282 to Ogborn, U.S. Pat. No. 213,001 to Stanton, U.S. Pat. No. 261,053 to Shupe, U.S. Pat. No. 431,825 to Sundback, U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,151 to Barnett, U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,506 to Revels. Unfortunately, these designs also suffer from one or more of the disadvantages discussed above.
Many of the deficiencies described above have been addressed in the inventor's previously filed patent application, U.S. Pat. No. 8,572,776 to Grubb. However, that patent application does not explicitly address the need for a foldout bed that provides a user with a comfortable area to sit without the rails pinching into the underside of the user's legs.
These references and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Thus, there is still a need for an improved rolling foldout cabinet bed.